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SUPREME COURT
Manila
THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 76101-02 September 30, 1991
TIO KHE CHIO, petitioner,
vs.
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS and EASTERN ASSURANCE AND SURETY
CORPORATION,respondents.
Rodolfo M. Morelos for petitioner.
Ferrer, Mariano, Sangalang & Gatdula for private respondent.
FERNAN, C.J.:p
The issue in this petition for certiorari and prohibition is the legal rate of interest to be imposed in
actions for damages arising from unpaid insurance claims. Petitioner Tio Khe Chio claims that it
should be twelve (12%) per cent pursuant to Articles 243 and 244 of the Insurance Code while
private respondent Eastern Assurance and Surety Corporation (EASCO) claims that it should be six
(6%) per cent under Article 2209 of the Civil Code.
The facts are as follows: On December 18, 1978, petitioner Tio Khe Chio imported one thousand
(1,000) bags of fishmeal valued at $36,000.30 from Agro Impex, U.S.A. Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. The
goods were insured with respondent EASCO and shipped on board the M/V Peskov, a vessel owned
by Far Eastern Shipping Company. When the goods reached Manila on January 28, 1979, they were
found to have been damaged by sea water which rendered the fishmeal useless. Petitioner filed a
claim with EASCO and Far Eastern Shipping. Both refused to pay. Whereupon, petitioner sued them
before the then Court of First Instance of Cebu, Branch II for damages. EASCO, as the insurer, filed
a counterclaim against the petitioner for the recovery of P18,387.86 representing the unpaid
insurance premiums.
On June 30, 1982, the trial court rendered judgment ordering EASCO and Far Eastern Shipping to
pay petitioner solidarily the sum of P105,986.68 less the amount of P18,387.86 for unpaid premiums
with interest at the legal rate from the filing of the complaint, the sum of P15,000.00 as attorney's
fees and the costs. 1
The judgment became final as to EASCO but the shipping company appealed to the Court of
Appeals and was absolved from liability by the said court in AC-G.R. No. 00161, entitled "Tio Khe
Chio vs. Eastern Assurance and Surety Corporation."
The trial court, upon motion by petitioner, issued a writ of execution against EASCO. The sheriff
enforcing the writ reportedly fixed the legal rate of interest at twelve (12%). Respondent EASCO
moved to quash the writ alleging that the legal interest to be computed should be six (6%) per cent
per annum in accordance with Article 2209 of the Civil Code and not twelve (12%) per cent as
insisted upon by petitioner's counsel. In its order of July 30, 1986, the trial court denied EASCO's
motion. EASCO then filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Court of Appeals.
On July 30, 1986, the Appellate Court rendered the assailed judgment, the dispositive part of which
states:
WHEREFORE, the order dated July 30, 1986 is hereby SET ASIDE in so far as it fixes the interest at
12% on the principal amount of P87,598.82 from the date of filing of the complaint until the full
payment of the amount, and the interest that the private respondent is entitled to collect from the
petitioner is hereby reduced to 6% per annum.
No pronouncement as to costs. 2
In disputing the aforesaid decision of the Court of Appeals, petitioner maintains that not only is it
unjust and unfair but it is also contrary to the correct interpretation of the fixing of interest rates under
Sections 243 and 244 of the Insurance Code. And since petitioner's claims is based on an insurance
contract, then it is the Insurance Code which must govern and not the Civil Code.
We rule for respondent EASCO. The legal rate of interest in the case at bar is six (6%) per annum as
correctly held by the Appellate Court.
Section 243 of the Insurance Code provides:
The amount of any loss or damage for which an insurer may be liable, under any
policy other than life insurance policy, shall be paid within thirty days after proof of
loss is received by the insurer and ascertainment of the loss or damage is made
either by agreement between the insured and the insurer or by arbitration; but if such
ascertainment is not had or made within sixty days after such receipt by the insurer
of the proof of loss, then the loss or damage shall be paid within ninety days after
such receipt. Refusal or failure to pay the loss or damage within the time prescribed
herein will entitle the assured to collect interest on the proceeds of the policy for the
duration of the delay at the rate of twice the ceiling prescribed by the Monetary
Board, unless such failure or refusal to pay is based on the ground that the claim is
fraudulent.
Section 244 of the aforementioned Code also provides:
In case of any litigation for the enforcement of any policy or contract of insurance, it
shall be the duty of the Commissioner or the Court, as the case may be, to make a
finding as to whether the payment of the claim of the insured has been unreasonably
denied or withheld; and in the affirmative case, the insurance company shall be
adjudged to pay damages which shall consist of attorney's fees and other expenses
And in the light of the fact that the contending parties did not allege the rate of interest stipulated in
the insurance contract, the legal interest was properly pegged by the Appellate Court at six (6%) per
cent.
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the petition is DENIED for lack of merit.
SO ORDERED.
Gutierrez, Jr., Feliciano, Bidin and Davide, Jr., JJ., concur.
Footnotes
1 Rollo, p. 45.
2 Rollo, p. 11.
3 Rollo, pp. 9, 11.
4 Reformina vs. Tomol, Jr., G.R. No. 59096, October 11, 1985, 139-SCRA 260.